Safety-door for elevators.



. PATENTED JUNE19, 1906 J. M. PORTER.

SAFETY DOOR FOR'ELEVA'I'ORS. APPLICATION FILED JULY15,1'905.

4 sums-$112311.

nuenfoz ANDREW. I GRAHAM 00.. FNOY UINWRAFNER$ WASHINGTOKD. c.

No. 823,965. PATENTED JUNE 19, 1906.

' J. M. PORTER.

SAFETY DOOR FOR ELEVATORS I APPLIGATION FILED JULY 15,1905.

4 SHEETS-SHEBT 3.

51mm: l'o'a 1 02:2 62

PATENTED JUNE 19, 1906. J. M. PORTER.

SAFETY DOOR FOR ELEVATORS APPLICATION FILED JULY 15,1905.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

. (:I'HUEHTOT invention.

PATENT oE roE.

JEssE M. PORTER, OF CUYAHOGA ALLS. OHIO.

SAFETY-DOOR FOR ELEVATORS.

Specification of Letters Patent,

was June 19, 1-906.

Application filed July 15, 1905. Serial No. 269,805.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, JEssE M. PORTER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Guyahoga Falls, in the county of Summit and State of Ohio, have invented new and useful Improvements in Safety-Doors for Elevators,

of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to safety doors for f.

elevator-shafts, designed especially for preventing the spread of fire through the latter, and has for its objects to-produce a comparatively simple inexpensive device of this character which may be readily installed for use, one in which the doors will remain normally closed and efiectual'ly prevent communication between the floors of the building through the. elevator-shaft, and one wherein the doors will be automaticallyo ened by the elevator in traveling up or own the shaft and will after passage of the cage return automatically to closed position.

Further objects of the invention are to pro vide a device of this class in which the doors will travel smoothly and evenly, one in the operation of which undue shocks will be ob- I vlated, and one wherein the doors will be. positively maintained in open position durmg passage of the elevator-cage therebetween.

With these and other objects in view the invention comprises the novel features ofconstruction and combination of parts more fully hereinafter described. In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal. section centrally through a portion of an elevator shaft equipped wlth mechanism embodying my Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional plan showing the safety-doors open and the elevator-car passing therebetween. Fig. 3 is aside elevation of the elevator-car, showing the parts of the mechanism carried thereby. Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail view, partly in vertical longitudinal section, of one of the 45 guides and its attendant door-operating devices. Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail view, partly in section, of a portion of the guide, showing the carriage arranged for travel therein. Fig. 6 is a transverse section taken on the line 6 '6 of Fig. 5. Fig. '7 is a detail sectional view of a portion of one of the doors and door-guides. Fig. 8 is a top plan view of the parts illustrated in Fig. 7. ig. 9 is a detail section showing parts of the. pair of" doors in closed position. Fig. 10 is .a top plan view of the parts shown inFig. 9.

in the forward edges of the [com Referring to the drawings, 1 designates an elevator-car, 2 its shaft, and 3 the floor of the building through which the latter asses, these parts, except as hereinafter exp ained, being all of the usual construction and adapted to perform their ordinary functions.

Disposed respectively on opposite sides of the shaft and adapted for cooperation to .close the latter is a pair of substantially horizontal doors 4, arran ed for sliding movement in and sustained y guides 5, preferably comosed of sections of channel-iron having at suitable spaced intervals perforated bracketears 6 for attachment to the framework of the floor 3 and each presenting a pair of spaced parallel portions or flanges '7, designed'to receive the adjacent edge of one of the doors between them, the flanges 7 being channeled to form runways 8, in which are arranged :antifriction-bal'ls 9, bearing in shallow V- shaped rooves 1-0, formed in the door, while the guides 5 are sli htly inclined from the horizontal downwar toward the shaft 2 for insuring automatic movement of the doors to closed position. The doors 4, which are similar in construction, each includes a marginal frame 11, having attached thereto by means of screws or other fastenin devices 12 a pair of steel or other sheet-meta side plates 13, spaced to receive between them a filling 14, of asbestos or other fireproof material, there being :journaled at appro riate oints flanged guide-rollers 15 fora purpose which will presently appear, said edges of the doors being j also provided with recesses 16, which conjoin y form anopening for the passage of the hoisting-cable when the doors .are closed, while one .of the doors has its forward edge recessed at 17 to form an opening between the doors for the passage of the feed-cable of electric elevators.

ilourna'led in suitable bearings at the outer or rear ends of the guides 5 are horizontal pulleys 18, having arranged for travel thereon flexible traction elements or cables 19, attacfhed at 20 to the rear edges of the doors and having their free ends engaged with blocks or carriers 21, arranged for travel'in verticalgpidesZZ, fixed at appropriate points within t e shaft f2, the carriers, which are equipped with antifriction-rollers 23, being provided with contact portions .or fingers 24, designed to project outward through and travel in longitudinal slots 25, provided in the outer front walls of the guides 22, while I attached to and carried by the car 1 at the corners thereof are upwardly and downwardly projecting engaging elements or arms 26, provided at their outer terminals with engaging portions or fingers 27, designed to contact with the projecting portions 24 of the carriers for exerting traction upon the elements 19 to open the doors. Applied to the active faces of the portions or fingers 27 are rubber or other buffers 28, which obviate undue noise and shock incident to the fingers coming in contact with the portions 24. The elements 19 pass into the guides 22 through suitable openings 29, formed in the rear walls of the latter, there being journaled in line with each of the openings a pair of vertically-disposed guide-pulleys 30 and at the ends of the opening antifriction-rollers 31, over which latter and the pulleys 30 the elements 19 are adapted to travel during the operation of the device, while the carrier-blocks 21 are connected by transverse pins 32, designed to engage terminal loops or eyes 33 on the ends of the cables, thus adapting the carriers to move freely either upward or downward within the guides, which have rearwardly-curved terminal portions 33 to receive the carriers and retract the contact portions 24 out of the path of movement of the engaging portions 27 for a purpose which will presently appear.

Fixed upon the side faces of the car 1 at appropriate points are rigid vertical guide members or rails 34, designed to register and travel in contact with the flanged rollers 15,

while the car is passing between the doors, said guides being extended slightly above and below the car, whereby the latter will have wholly passed the doors prior to release of the same for movement to closed position.

Disposed between the meeting edges of the doors are rubber or other yieldable buffers 35, preferably of semispherical form and adapted to enter corresponding sockets or recesses 36 to insure complete closing of the doors, these buffers being intended for preventing undue noise and shocks when the edges of the doors meet in closing.

In practice the doors normally stand in closed position, as illustrated in Fig. 1, under which conditions the elements 1 9 will be withdrawn from the guides 22 and the carriers 21 will stand in a position adjacent the longitudinal centers of the latter in line with the openings 29 and pulleys 30. As the car 1 moves upward or downward in the shaft 2 the engaging portions 27 of arms 26 will engage the contact portions 24 of the carriers, thereby moving the latter upward or downward in their guides 22 and exerting traction upon the elements 19 for opening the doors to permit passage of the car therebetween, it being understood that as soon as the doors are completely opened the rails 34 will engage the rollers 15 and the carriers 21 will pass into the curved portions 33 of the guides for moving the contact-fingers 24 out of the path of the fingers 27, whereby as soon as the car has traveled beyond the doors the latter will, owing to the downward inclination of the guides 5, move automatically by gravity to normally closed position. It is apparent that under this arrangement the doors will be automatically opened by the carriage during either its upward or downward travel and that the doors will serve normally to effectually close the elevator-shaft and prevent s reading of fire through the latter from one oor to another of a building.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- 1. In a device of the class described and in combination with an elevator-car and its shaft, a horizontally-movable door adapted to move automatically to position for closing the latter, a guide sustained within the shaft, a contact member arranged for travel in the guide, and a traction element connected with said member and engaged with the door, said contact member bemg operable by the car for exerting traction on t 1e element to open the door.

2. In a device of the class described and in combination with an elevator-car and its shaft, of a horizontally-movable door adapted to move automatically to position for closing the latter, a traction element connected with the door, a vertical guide sustained within the shaft, a contact member connected with the element and movable vertically in the guide, and means carried by the car for engaging the contact member to exert traction upon the element to open the door.

3. In a device of the class described and in combination with an elevator-car and its shaft, of a horizontally-movable door for closing the latter, a traction element connected with the door, a vertical guide sustained within the shaft, and a contact mem ber arrranged for movement vertically in the guide and connected with the element, said contact member being operable by the car for exerting traction on the element for opening the door.

4. In a device of the class described and in combination with an elevator-car and its shaft, of a horizontally-movable door for closin the latter, a traction element connected with the door, a vertical guide sustained in the shaft and having a curved portion, and a contact member connected with the element and arranged for vertical movement in the guide, said member being operable by the car for exerting traction on the element to open the door and being movable through the curved portion of the guide out of the path of movement of the car.

5. In a device of the class described and in combination with an elevator-car and its shaft, of a horizontally-movable door for closing the latter, a traction element connected with the door, a vertical guide sus-' ,tained in the shaft, a contact member movably sustained by the guide for vertical movement and connected with the element, and an arm carried by the'car and having an engaging portion adapted for engaging and operatingl the contact member to exert traction on t e element for opening the door.

6. In a device of the class described and in combination with an elevator-car and its shaft, of uides extended transversely of the shaft and arranged at an inclination relatively to the horizontal, a door slidably disposed in the uides and adapted to move automatically by gravity to closed position, vertical guides sustained within the shaft,

carriages arranged for travel respectively in the vertical guides and having projecting contact portions, traction elements connected with the outer end of the door and with the carriages, arms fixed to and projecting above and below the car, said arms having terminal contact members adapted to act upon the projecting portions of the carriages for o erating the latter to exert traction on the e ements and open the door.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

. JESSE M. PORTER. Witnesses:

S. E. SHooK, D. .F. FELMLY. 

